Trajectory

“Zazie, this is not the time for your magic crazy talk,” Brent said, earning him a glare.

Chloe heard them, but they were echoes in the background. Her best friend was dead and the person who killed her was more than likely the same person who tried to kill her. Someone was killing shifters. The sirens were getting louder, so the police were on their way. At least now they’d believe she was shot at. The proof was lying in front of her.

“Get away from the crime scene,” Rickman yelled at her as he walked toward her.

Zazie stepped in front of him. “Stop yelling at the girl, she just lost her best friend. Have some compassion, TJ, damn.”

The police chief looked at her and recognition was in his eyes. “Zazie, what the hell are you doing out of the nut house?”

“I’m not crazy, TJ, stop yelling at the kids and do your damn job.”

He looked like he was going to say something else, but bit his tongue. A nicer deputy walked up and put a hand gently on Chloe’s shoulder. “I need you to answer some question for me if you’re able to, ma’am.”

Chloe nodded and the others questioned Brent and Zazie separately. She went through everything that had happened the day before and that day, leaving out the part about turning into a bird and hiding in the woods. Once the police seemed satisfied with their stories, they let them go. They started putting things into bags and the coroner showed up.

“The scene is completely clean.” Chloe heard one of the deputies say. “This person knew what they were doing.” That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. They climbed back into the truck, promising not to leave town, and headed back to her house.

Her mind wouldn’t be still long enough for her to calm down. She wanted to talk to Brent but wasn’t sure what to say.

“How do you know the police chief, Z?” Brent asked. He must have been trying to take their minds off of it, but it wasn’t going to work. She’d see Layla’s eyes every time she blinked, her stiff body every time she lay down at night. It was burned into her brain.

“I’ve lived in the WC my whole life, son, I know everyone.”

They remained silent the rest of the way back to the house and when Chloe got out, Brent got out to walk her to the door. She was suddenly very tired and saw a future of lying in her bathtub crying.

When they got to the door she turned and hugged him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and inhaling his scent. He held her close for a few minutes and she was glad he wasn’t running away screaming. Pulling her face back, she leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled away. Hurt, she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the ground.

“I’m sorry, Chloe, I just think with everything that’s happened, we should take a step back.”

“You mean since I’m a freak with wings you want to see other people.” Chloe was shaking as she backed toward the door. He should just say what he was really thinking.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m just overwhelmed.” She didn’t give him a chance to finish his sentence. Slamming the door in his face, she sank down in front of it and let sobs take over her body. She’d lost both her best friends in one day. It was hard to remember how happy she’d been before the gunshots the day before. She cried until her whole body hurt and she couldn’t breathe, finally pulling herself up off the floor and moving to her couch.

Every time a car drove by or she heard a noise she wondered if the killer was coming for her. Eventually she was so exhausted from crying she fell asleep. When she woke up it was past nine o’clock. She’d slept through dinner, but she wasn’t really hungry.

Taking a shower, she cried some more and tried to drink water before crawling under the covers and going to sleep. It wasn’t the best sleep, but when her alarm went off in the morning she got up and showered again. Rent would be due soon and she needed the money. Even though she was in mourning, she had to go to work.

* * *

“You’re an idiot,” Zazie had told him when he got back in the car. “She loves you. You’ve practically known her your whole life and you can’t handle that she has one tiny secret.”

“She’s a freaking bird, Z, that’s not a tiny secret.”

“Brent honey, she’s not just a bird, she’s a person too, and she loves you.”

“You don’t know that she loves me. We’ve only been dating for a couple weeks, really.”

Zazie gave him a look and he put his eyes back on the road, gripping the steering wheel hard. In two days his whole life had changed, but maybe she was right.

She’d been there for him his whole life. They’d known each other since they were too young to remember and now he’d ruined it.

He’d dropped Zazie off at her decrepit old home, feeling guilty and hoping that nothing that would eat her was living there—like a mountain lion, which he wasn’t sure lived in Woodland Creek—but it seemed anything was possible. He’d offered to come in his aunt’s house to make sure there weren’t any squatters, but she’d assured him she wasn’t an invalid, she could take care of herself. Stopping for a bite of dinner at a fast food place, he made it back to his apartment and once again just sat on the couch, staring at the wall.

He didn’t sleep. All night he saw Layla’s body lying there so still. He saw Chloe’s hurt eyes as he pulled away from her kiss. He saw her change into a bird and fly away from him. He pictured Zazie doing black magic and how she felt when his cousin was taken from her. There were too many things going through his head. Zazie had said magic was their legacy. Was he magic and didn’t know it? If so, who was he to judge Chloe? He loved her.

Holy shit! He loved her! He’d messed up so badly. It was time to stop being a complete idiot and tell her. It was three in the morning. He figured she’d had a hard enough night without him waking her up in the middle of the night. It would work out. He’d beg on his knees for her forgiveness. There was no way he would let her out of his life as his best friend or his girlfriend. He couldn’t believe how stupid he was. So what if she was a bird?

“She can fly, that’s pretty cool,” he said aloud. He spent the rest of the night trying to think of all the reasons having a bird girlfriend was cool. “She could dislodge a kite if I ever flew one.” Finally, it was nine o’clock and he could get up and get ready to go see her. As much as he hated to admit it, Zazie was right—he was an idiot.